


Until the end

by Hopeful_Foolx



Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Eventual Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, More characters to come, My First Work in This Fandom, No beta we die like marisan Mayors, Other, Whump, Whumptober 2020, beaten, ooof
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:48:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26856955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hopeful_Foolx/pseuds/Hopeful_Foolx
Summary: A random kidnapping, pain, and a helpless Juno Steel. Two parts, two chapters, one story.Whumptober day 6 - "Please..."
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1945483
Comments: 15
Kudos: 80
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, my first work in this fandom and I'm already hurting my favorite characters. Great. Have fun!

They used to say it gets you in the moments you least expect it. Juno Steel didn’t like that saying for two reasons, sometimes more. First of all, who were ‘they’? Because whoever said that, knew a lot more than he liked about the world. Second, whoever they were, they were right. Back on Mars, he had always expected it, and even thought himself to prove the ominous ‘them’ wrong, Whatever got him or not, he had always been prepared, one way or another. But maybe that had been a special trait of fighting crime, because they didn’t expect it when it happened, and they are not on Mars anymore. And Juno is _ pissed _ , if ‘they’ were a person he could be pissed at, just that he can’t throw his anger anywhere but the man holding them hostage - holding him and Nureyev hostage, to be precise. But anger is better than fear, or so he always thought. There is no fear in Nureyev’s eyes, and they are all he looks at, because of that he keeps his own behind a wall. Tries his best to. He doesn’t know how long they’ve been gone, but Nureyev keeps his mouth shut since he first tried to charm them out of it, he just looks at Juno. Someone will find them. Someone must find them. 

“So… Do you  _ finally  _ want to tell me who sent you or do I have to get even more creative?” Juno wants to scoff at that, because creative is a strong word, he continues to beat Nureyev for every answer Juno gives and that is not creative, it’s fucking painful. He has the faint suspicion that neither of them want to find out what creative means. Nureyev keeps eye contact with Juno still, and it feels like he is clutching to him, holding on. They both need it, they both hold onto each other like that because what else can they do? They have no form of communication whatsoever, and Juno has still not the echo of an idea on how they got here. How they were caught. Because one moment, Nureyev and him had been doing nothing else than walking back to the ship, the next he awoke here from a bucket of water over his head. He is still wet though no longer dripping, and it’s so cold underground that he stopped feeling his feet some time ago. Nureyev is looking even worse. If he lost his glasses before or after the first punch, Juno isn’t even sure. There is blood in the corner of his mouth, but that’s all he can see, what he can’t is far worse. 

“When will you get it,  _ we don’t know what you are talking about! _ ” He leans forward and tries to get out of the restraints currently holding him when the man in the pinstripe suit sighs as if he’d care and rams his fist into Nureyev’s stomach again. At first, he only closed his eyes, but the more punches come, the less the thief can stop himself from wincing, and the more forcibly straight he holds himself. 

“When you stop lying, I would say” Nureyev has his mouth shut so tightly there is no blood visible in his lips, a thin white line and still he keeps looking at Juno, holds on, so Juno does the same, but they can’t go on like that much longer. He is panting, shaking, every time it takes him longer to blink and look up and back to Juno. But it also can’t be much longer until they’ll be found, they had their comms, the man broke them in front of them, wherever they are - the others need to find them, they will find them, he hopes and clings to and nearly prays even if Juno Steel is not one to do that. He tries to tell himself it’s okay as long as Peter Nureyev still looks at him like that, or looks at him at all. As long as they are still alive and together, as long as they keep each other up. But Nureyev’s eyes are red-rimmed and while he did not make a single sound the entire time, they are getting closer to the point where neither of them can go on. Juno can’t see Peter getting hurt anymore - not ever again. Not after Miasma already. And it’s so, so so similar, someone asking questions he can’t answer, hurting Nureyev for it, and Juno not able to do anything. It rips him apart on the inside. And that’s not even physical pain, because Nureyev is experiencing that. Not Juno. He wishes their roles were reversed, and does not at the same time. He wishes they had been faster on their way back, not bickering around for the first time in so long, more careful about who was around them. It doesn’t matter, none of it does, but he wrecks his brain thinking about why they are here, because it’s not a lie. He  _ really _ has not the faintest idea.    
“If there was nothing, I wouldn’t recognize your friend here” The man standing next to Nureyev nudges his shoulder with his elbow, “And I do. He knows why and that is why I know he won’t talk. You might, given how you two acted out there” So he saw them. Great. He has a snarky reply on his tongue but bites it, that way Nureyev had already gotten more than one unnecessary punch. He doesn’t even glare at the man, just keeps looking. A sense of safety lies within it. No matter what their kidnapper says, if he really has seen Nureyev before, it doesn’t change that they trust each other. If Nureyev had a plan, he would have acted on it already, but if he’d suddenly jump out of his restraints, Juno wouldn’t even need a second to react. This is how they work now. 

“But if you don’t want to talk…” He sighs and chuckles and it’s a dangerous noise, “I’ll get creative” Nureyev’s eyes widen and for the first time, Juno looks away from him. The man in the pinstriped suit takes something out of his pocket, thin and-    
A syringe.    
“Your friend here might even remember that. Because last time he was here, he escaped. And I now have the proper tools for an interrogation” He leans forward so he can look Nureyev in the eye and disrupts their connection for a short moment. Juno can’t see it but suspects he just looks straight ahead still 

“Last chance?” 

“I said-” Nureyev starts and Juno nearly winces at his voice, the usual gentle tone gone, but he stops when Pinstripes laughs out loud.

“No, not from you” he pats Nureyev’s shoulder, “I just want to get a good look at your face one last time” Why? Juno strains his frozen ankles against the restraints again, if nothing else the pain keeps him focused. One last time?   
  
“We are just here on transit, I told you, nobody sent us!” He shouts it for the thousandth time. They were just out for a walk. Food, maybe. A break, some fresh air. Nureyev even told Juno he’d been on the planet before, but nothing else. They don’t even know a name, and he doesn’t know what is in this syringe, would he want to?    
  
“Well then, that settles that” Pinstripes turns back to Juno who has not even a moment to react or do more than wince, when he rams the syringe into Nureyev’s arm, “Let’s see how it goes now” He pulls it out and pockets it again. What is it? Truth serum? No, he would have used that sooner. Poison? More likely. But they don’t know anything! Juno can’t even make up a story, and that Nureyev didn’t, says a lot. It’s too late now anyway.

“What are you doing? What is that?” He demands when he sees Nureyev start to tremble. Not like before, not like after being punched and regaining his composure, but his whole body trembles. Slowly, then more, and he still looks at Juno, but now his eyes are not only red rimmed, they are wet and glassy with tears. Tears that begin to fall and that, that is the moment Juno finally panics. 

“What did you do to him?!” He asks louder, breaks away once more but pinstripes just smiles.

“Oh, you want to know? Who am I to deny you that…” He puts a hand down on Nureyev’s shoulder and squeezes, but before he has done more than just touch Juno wishes he didn’t ask. 

Because Nureyev screams.

Like back in that martian tomb, like he was tortured all over again, like someone twisted a knife around his insides he  _ screams _ . At some point, Juno needs to close his eyes and remember to breathe, to collect himself, but it’s to no real avail. He can’t drown it out, can’t focus. There is nothing else besides screams of agony that slowly ebb away to painful panting and whimpers. 

“So, ready to answer some questions?”    
  
“What have you done to him?!” He can’t get loose, he can’t break out but struggles anyway, “What have you done?” Pinstripes waits until the screams have succumbed to quiet wheezing and whimpers, and what Juno does not want to call sobbing, before he answers.   
  
“Oh, it’s actually as clever as unspectacular. I turned up his pain receptors! Every touch, every blow of wind as agonizing as a shot through the chest. I’m glad you ask so persistently, I’m really quite proud. And the best? It leaves no trace! Apart, of course, of a heart giving out sometimes. Someone screaming himself to death. The usual. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m getting impatient” He folds his hands in front of him and Peter doesn’t look up anymore. His chin rests on his chest and still he can hear him and his scream echoes in his mind, he sees tears fall from his face. What gets Peter Nureyev to cry? 

“Listen, I don’t know” Juno can feel himself trembling too, the skin of his wrists scraped open from fruitless attempts to get out, he is wet and the scream is still in his head, and he is  _ terrified _ because Nureyev doesn’t look up anymore, “I told you the truth, nobody sent us, we were just on the street, we’re just part of a crew on a supply run, just-” 

Not satisfied with the answer, Pinstripes pushes down on the side of Nureyev’s chest, where he hit before, where Juno could hear something break earlier. Just as Nureyev’s voice breaks now, 

“Stop,  _ please _ ! Stop!” He can’t look, he shouts at Pinstripes and he doesn’t know what to do, where the others are, what to tell him, and Nureyev, god, Nureyev, he screams and there is no voice in it anymore, just a high pitched wheezing when he finally stops, and Juno is begging at this point, “Stop,  _ please please  _ stop” He whispers through his own tears. 

“I don’t fucking know anything, I can’t _ tell _ you anything but this, because nobody sent us, we are not here for anything!” Pinstripes raises his hand again, and Juno feels bile rise up in his throat when at the motion, not again, not again.

“No! No, please, stop!”    
And suddenly, there is a commotion outside. Shouting, crashes, the light flickers and Pinstripes turns around with a muttered curse. The door falls shut behind him, what he said - Juno could even have heard it, but he doesn’t care. 

“Ransom?” He bites away the name he wants to say, to scream, but there might be cameras, might be someone watching, “Ransom, are you with me?” He half-asks, half sobs. At this point he hopes Nureyev passed out, but there is a sharp intake of breath and a noise so close to another whimper he takes it as a yes. 

“They’re coming for us, they’re coming for us, we’ll figure this out, you’ll be alright, okay? We both will, look at me, please” Nureyev doesn’t look up to meet his eye. 

“Come on, come on please” He says it to nobody, just repeats it until the door flies open and Nureyev startles at the sound, and he knows they are saved before even hearing Buddy’s voice.


	2. Crying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two - pain BUT Fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, guys, thank you all so much for the support and the lovely comments and kudos <3

By the time Jet cuts him loose, Nureyev is actually sobbing. Juno is not sure if it is the pain or if the drugs had contained something else. He practically falls from the chair to the floor and backs away from Jet and him until the wall stops him. Like a scared animal in a corner, and no matter what they do, nothing gets through. 

“Ransom” Juno tries, kneeling in front of him, his own hands trembling but a pale comparison to how much Nureyev is shaking, “ _ Peter _ ” 

“Let me go, just let me go, just-” 

“We can’t stay here” Jet informs him and Juno just looks at him, how are they supposed to get Nureyev out of here if he screams when they even touch him? Buddy and Vespa are clearing their way out, and they need to move. But he can’t  _ not _ think about what Pinstripes said. How hearts gave out. How victims just screamed themselves to death. Five minutes ago that seemed to be the case with Nureyev, even if they don’t need an antidote, it’s not enough time to let the drug run its course, it can’t be over that fast, it’s not over now. He is too scared, too utterly terrified with his arms around his long legs, hiding his face behind them and making himself as small as possible. Like a child, Juno thinks briefly, like the child he may have been on Brahma before Mag found him. The thought just makes it worse. If Nureyev only knew it was them! If he knew it was Juno and Jet and Buddy and Vespa, if he knew then maybe it could be less terrifying. He’d still be in pain but knew he was safe, just that until now, Juno can’t get through to him. He leans forward, careful not to touch him, as much as he wants to wrap his arms around him and just hold him until this is over, he would rather die than do that now that it brings him pain.   
  
“Nureyev, please. Look at me, it’s Juno, Jet is here, they came for us” he whispers, “But we need to leave, and it’ll hurt, but…” He sighs and takes a deep breath, “but we’re safe now” His own voice is hoarse and breaks in the end. Nureyev doesn’t look up, doesn’t stop crying. 

“Jet? I don’t know what to do, he doesn’t seem to hear me or-” There is something grim in Jet’s eyes and he nods. 

“I can carry him, trying to keep him steady, since there seems no other option” And Juno wishes there was, wishes there was any other option, even just knocking him out here and now, but there isn’t. 

“I am so sorry” he whispers and backs away, when he wants nothing more than to stay close. But Jet is right, and a moment later he knows exactly how and why he backed off. Because Juno couldn’t do it, he couldn’t. 

“Let me go! Stop!” Nureyev shoves Jet away, or rather, he tries to, but his attempts are weak. His voice is broken and his screams are too, and he curls into a ball in Jet’s arms, sobbing again when he picks him up. 

They are halfway outside when he finally loses consciousness and Juno wants to cry with relief. 

  
  
  


He still doesn’t dare to touch him when they are in medbay later. Vespa wrapped up his arms and gave him something for his head, but Juno was only half present for it. He didn’t even respond to one of the usual comments because he promptly forgot what it was about. Nureyev hasn’t woken up yet, and Juno can’t help but think that it’s better that way. To let him sleep it off, or just let him sleep until he was better and not screaming anymore because no matter what, he can’t stop thinking about it. How Pinstripes specifically hurt Nureyev and  _ not _ Juno, how he was so sure he wouldn’t talk, so sure they knew something. He still can’t grasp the  _ why _ . Why did he snatch them. And so fast.    
He wraps his blanket tighter around himself. Slight hypothermia, Vespa had told him. His hair is still damp and he sips from the mug of coffee Rita gave him earlier. It’s gone cold but he doesn't care, it gives him something else to focus on. Rita hugged him, wrapped her arms around him and he found himself clutching back before he even really knew it. Even if he tuned out what exactly she said, the fact that she was there and talking helped him more than he could put into words.   
He is glad that he is alone with Nureyev though. He isn’t sure if he could stand anyone else right now and they don’t deserve to be shouted at just because he doesn’t have himself under control. He is tired, bone-deep exhausted and tired, and while he could lay down and maybe should, he doesn’t want to. So he sits cross-legged on his own bed, as close as possible, sipping coffee that does nothing to keep him awake. There is more. Even as exhausted as he is, it’s not enough to knock him out thoroughly, and he doesn’t want to dream, when even as awake as he is now he can’t escape it.    
In the marisan tomb, they lay next to each other every night, or what passed as night, when Miasma finally let them go. Granted, the Juno that left Nureyev later had been a different one, but still - the only comfort they found was in holding each other. Even with everything else, that was what they had been able to do, they held onto each other when Miasma played them out. She didn’t care about either of them, if Nureyev died or not, but she couldn’t kill Juno. She needed him. She used them against each other just like Pinstripes did now, but then he had known what she wanted. Today had just been… pointless.    
He sighs and rubs his face with one hand. Pointless. They didn’t know anything and still… He carefully wiped away the dried tears from Nureyev’s face after Vespa patched him up. A brief trip to their quarters for a fresh set of clothes and glasses was all he took before being back at his side. They left the planet. He should ask Rita how they found them.    
There is a loose strand of hair in Nureyev’s face but Juno doesn’t dare to tuck it back behind his ear. His face is relaxed, peaceful, like it should be. He can see the bandages around his torso peeking out, a broken rib, bandaged into place. He sees Pinstripes pushing down and hears Nureyev scream, scream and-

He sucks in a breath sharply and lets it out slowly. He is okay. He is okay. They are okay. He places the mug on the floor. They will be okay. The bruises around his eyes will fade and Juno knows they will do so faster because of Nureyev’s special skin care routine he internally teases him about. They will be okay because he refuses to think about the drug having lasting effects. Another sharp breath and he closes his eyes, it won’t have lasting effects. The tight feeling in his chest stays, constricts his torso, making his skin tingle and sending a shiver down his spine. He is all too aware of the clothes he is wearing and their pressure, which is not much but he feels it and that is enough. It won’t have lasting effects, he reminds himself, Vespa would have told him, would have found something. It won’t have lasting effects because that would make no sense for a person like Pinstripes. It won’t because they would know by now.    
The tight feeling stays even as he opens his eyes and takes another deep breath. His hands are pressed together tightly and he carefully lets them loose. This is why he won’t sleep. The anxiety. He knows he’ll likely doze off and like a bolt of electricity, the memory will kick him into wakefulness again, and then he won’t be able to sleep for an even longer time. Better to stay awake now and wait until he knows, until Nureyev is awake-

“Juno?” He is back in his body in a second when he hears his name, even if the voice is scratchy and tired and the last thing he heard in it was sobbing and screaming. Sobbing. The picture is back again, because he heard him cry and couldn’t help him, no matter what, he couldn’t help or do anything at all. Helpless. And Juno Steel has been helpless far too often in his life before.

“Yes, hey” He swallows and clears his throat, forces himself back to the present, “Hey” He leans forward, hands itching to grab his hand, to tuck that hair away, to just hold him close, all at once.

“Hi” It’s awkward but then Nureyev blinks and looks around until his eyes find Juno. And there he is again, his Peter Nureyev, his thief without a name except for when he is with Juno. 

“How…” He clears his throat again, “Uhm, how do you feel?” They look at each other and again, Juno thinks about how they held eye contact hours before. Only hours. It feels like a second and a lifetime. Nureyev chuckles and closes his eyes, but he doesn’t scream, he doesn’t do more than wince. Is it over? The tight feeling stays and he knows it won’t go until he is absolutely sure. 

“I think…” he sighs, “the effects of whatever I was given have worn off by now” They both know it’s what he asked.

“Can I…” Juno swallows and looks down, his hands fidgeting with each other and he forces them to stop, “Can I touch you?” He finally blurts out and Nureyev holds out his hand as if he isn’t sure himself, but needs to, wants to. And he knows he is not the only one craving the contact, though he’d understand if he didn’t want to, if every touch hurt before.   
Juno takes it as if it is made out of glass, and he waits for a reaction, a sharp intake of breath, a cry, a scream. None of that happens, instead Nureyev curls his fingers around Juno’s. He doesn’t hurt him with it, and so Juno lets his other hand wander until it finally tucks away that strand of hair. He stares at it for a moment.    
  
“Juno?” The pressure in his chest leaves so suddenly he thinks he can hear it snap and hearing his name does nothing to help it. He leans forward and rests his forehead on Nureyev’s shoulder. He doesn’t cry, he doesn’t do more than just breathe his first full breath since all of that began, his first full breath since waking up soaked through in that room. He just breathes in and out, smells that Cologne and antiseptic from the bandages.

“Darling?” He carefully lifts his head and shakes it, 

“I was so scared” he finally admits, “I was so fucking scared Nureyev, I thought he’d kill you or I’d hurt you  _ god _ , I thought…” He pauses and breathes in again, “I was scared I’d lose you” It’s nothing new, they had it before, they are scared of losing each other because Nureyev still sometimes expects Juno to walk out and Juno couldn’t blame him for doing the same. They talked about it, sleep deprived midnight talks but they talked about it. He supports himself with one arm on the mattress so he doesn’t have to let go with his other. 

“I’ll be fine, Juno” And he’ll never grow tired of hearing him saying his name like this. Of hearing his name from Peter Nureyev even if his voice is rough from screaming and tired from being unconscious, pain medication and in general.   
“Are you okay?” Juno wants to laugh, because Peter Nureyev with a broken rib and bruises all over his torso, after being tortured with a drug that turned every touch into agony still asks about Juno the first chance he gets. Of course he does. 

“Just a few scratches” 

“You are cold” Nureyev points out with raised eyebrows and he was only gone for a few hours and Juno  _ missed _ him impossibly. How did this happen? It doesn’t bother him, but he still needs to know only to find out how he deserves it in return.

“...and that” he finally adds. The blanket has fallen away he only notices now. Nureyev’s hand is warm when he tugs on his. It’s a request Juno waited for, an invitation he gladly accepts the moment it becomes clear. 

“Come here. Cold will do wonders with... “ he gestures but doesn’t say more. 

“Bruises, a broken rib, couple scratches too” Juno helps him out and picks up the blanket to put it over his own before he slips under it too. He really must be cold because Nureyev is warm. Or he is just always warm. He tucks his arms close to his body and it’s a tight fit, but they manage. He can’t throw an arm over him as he usually does, or as Nureyev does, too, without hurting him, but he can put his head on his shoulder again, tucked under Nureyev’s chin, who sighs at the contact. 

“I’m glad this doesn’t hurt” he mumbles and Juno pulls the blankets up higher

“I didn’t ask what happened to Pinstripes” 

“ _ Pinstripes _ ” He chuckles and winces and Juno smiles. Of course he couldn’t have told him. 

“Yeah, that’s what I called him” Nureyev sucks in a breath and Juno knows exactly what will follow.    
  
“Juno, that we got captured-” Juno shakes his head and looks up, 

“Not now. It’s fine, we couldn’t have known. It’s as much my fault as yours, so none of ours. Rest up, okay?” He knows he wants to say more, answer, probably tell the story of why he had been there the first time, but then doesn’t. Juno can’t see his eyes but in the next moment he knows they are closed all the same. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading <3  
> Let me know what you think? :)


End file.
